


The Last

by MathClassWarfare



Series: We're Older Than We Realize [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Related, Fluff and Angst, Headcanon, M/M, Older Gladiolus Amicitia, Older Ignis Scientia, Older Noctis Lucis Caelum, Older Noctis Week, Older Prompto Argentum, Older Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum, POV Noctis Lucis Caelum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-30 00:03:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20805200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MathClassWarfare/pseuds/MathClassWarfare
Summary: Noctis enjoys one last dinner with his friends before telling them his fate.





	The Last

**Author's Note:**

> For Older Noctis Week Day 6: King’s day off / Coronation

It’s truly amazing that Ignis managed to make lasagna on a camp stove—and it turned out so well. Noctis eats slowly, savoring the gooey deliciousness. He really missed eating. Food is good.

Looking up and across the fire pit, he catches Prompto grinning at him and returns the smile. They’ve been doing this a lot, since Noctis got back from that other place. 

He’s still reeling from the fact that it’s been ten years. It didn’t feel like it was that long. Or did it? It’s hard to remember. He’s afraid of slipping out of time and place if he thinks about it too hard. This is where he wants to be—sitting around a campfire with his friends, enjoying each other’s company, taking a break from the apocalypse. He can wait just a little longer before he tells them what’s coming.

Prompto is visibly buzzing with nervous energy. During dinner, he starts tapping out a rhythm with his fork on the plate. He finally stops when Noctis comes around to collect the dishes and give him a kiss. 

Then he begins bouncing his leg instead.

“We’re finally gonna do it, guys! We’re taking our city back!”

“Hell yeah!” Gladio reaches out for a high-five, which Prompto enthusiastically delivers.

“That we are,” Ignis sighs, relaxing into his chair. 

Noctis wonders if he knows. He’s been very quiet all evening, but maybe he’s just quieter these days. 

There’s a pang of guilt and something like regret every time Noctis notices how his friends have grown and changed. They’ve gone through hell and now they’re coming out the other side resilient, tenacious and miraculously still kind. And he’s missed every second of it. 

After setting a pot of water to heat on the stove, he returns to his seat and gazes out across the water, at the faint lights of his city.

"I wonder what it’s like there now,” he breathes. 

Ignis frowns. “From what we’re hearing, it’s largely empty—save for daemons. We should prepare ourselves for the worst.”

They told him that almost every living human on Eos is crowded into Lestallum now. Noctis can’t imagine what that must be like. He wishes he could go and see for himself, but there isn’t time for that. 

“You said the Kingsglaive is there now?”

“They are,” Ignis answers.

“Cor too!” Prompto adds. “They’ve secured the subway stations downtown and made a whole base. Pretty rad, huh?”

It would be nice to see Cor again. Noctis wonders if there will be any time to talk. There are some things he would like to ask the man who served under both his father and his grandfather. 

“Are Monica and Dustin . . .?”

“In Lestallum, coordinating Glaive operations.” Ignis half-smiles. “And herding the cats while I’m away.” 

“Iggy’s kinda in charge now,” Gladio explains. “We set up a council so all the different groups have a say.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” 

Noctis always knew Ignis would make a great leader—much better than him. It feels good to know he’ll be leaving Lucis in his brother’s capable hands.

Prompto counts on his fingers as he rattles off a list, “Accordo, Tenebrae, Niflheim, EXINERIS, farmers, glaives, hunters . . .” He squints at Gladio. “Is that it, for factions?”

“Don’t forget us! Or Sania—that woman is a force to be reckoned with.” 

“Right! Sania has a whole army of lab assistants, including yours truly.” Prompto bows in his seat.

“Yeah? That’s really cool.” Noctis stands to check on the water.

Gladio watches him and chuckles. “It’s not like you to just start cleaning without anybody asking, Princess. What’d they do to you in there?” 

“Okay. Seriously, man,” Prompto huffs, gesturing towards Noctis.“You’ve really got to stop calling him that. He’s definitely the king now. He’s about to go take his kingdom back!”

Ignis hums thoughtfully and says, “Technically, he still hasn’t had a coronation. So his proper title is unclear.”

Gladio and Prompto look at him, momentarily speechless, and then at Noctis, who shrugs and continues scrubbing congealed cheese off a plate.

“Then let’s do it! Right?” Prompto twists around in his seat to give Noctis a wide smile. “Right?!”

“I don’t have a crown, though.” Noctis dunks another dish in the soapy water.

“Hold on.” Gladio stands. “Just lemme find something.”

He hops over the edge of the haven and returns after a few minutes with a twig, which he hands to Ignis. 

After running his fingers over the thing and making a few adjustments—snapping and bending—Ignis gives a small nod and says, “Not bad.”

From his vantage point at the camp stove, Noctis thinks it looks pretty close to the traditional Lucis Caelum crown. He finishes up and rejoins his friends by the fire.

“If you’re up to it, we can begin.” Ignis looks like he might actually be into this, which makes Noctis want to do it. 

“Sure, why not?”

Ignis—his advisor, his oldest friend, his brother—recites the words he has memorized. This time, they aren’t playing games in the throne room. This is real. Noctis listens intently, and does his best to keep up and not say the wrong thing. When he makes his promises to the people of Lucis, he really feels it.

After placing the twig over Noctis’s ear, Ignis kneels. Prompto and Gladio join him. 

Noctis feels a complicated stew of emotions while he looks down at them. He’s the Chosen King—with the power and the duty to protect them and the rest of Eos. It’s an important responsibility and one that he has accepted, regardless of the cost to himself. He’s also their friend and no better than any of them—the opposite, in fact. He’s just Noct. Why should they kneel to him?

“Okay. Enough,” he pleads after enduring several seconds of this.

When Prompto looks up at him with a crooked smile, the newly-crowned Hundred and Fourteenth (and last) King of Lucis says, “Now come over here and kiss me.”

Prompto is quick to his feet and teases, “Yes, your Majesty,” as his beloved draws him in.

When they part, Noctis says, “Please don’t call me that. Royal decree.” 

Gladio barks a laugh. 

Brushing the dirt off his pant leg, Ignis says, “I hope you’ll give me a special dispensation on this. You know I like to do things properly.”

“Fine. Only Ignis.”

“What about, ‘_my liege_?’” Prompto asks, wrapping an arm around Noctis.

“No! That’s not even a thing.”

“It’s not,” Ignis confirms. “A common misconception.”

“Hey! Who’re you calling common!? I’m shacking up with the king!”

“Now _that is_ a thing,” Gladio chimes in. “Or it was, back in the day. I was just re-reading a book about this the other night. Being a royal concubine was a solid track to nobility.” __

_ _“I don’t suppose your authoritative source on this topic was that literary classic, ‘At His Majesty’s Pleasure?’” Ignis asks._ _

_ _“Hey. It’s a good book.” Gladio holds up his hands defensively. “What can I say?”_ _

_ _Prompto and Noctis dissolve into laughter. His romance novels always have such excellent titles._ _

_ _Catching his breath, Noctis looks around at each of the three most important people in this world. They’re almost the same as he imagined countless times, when he missed them intensely and couldn’t reach them—when he was drifting in and out of that other place, gathering power and coming to terms with what he must do. He breathes deep to ground himself again in _this_ moment—in this place. He knows he can’t stay here forever. He has to face his destiny, and he has to tell the people he loves._ _

_ _So in a voice that’s just starting to break apart, he begins with, “Guys . . .”_ _

_ _Ignis takes in a sharp breath and tenses up, as if he’s bracing himself. There’s no question that he knows what’s coming._ _

_ _Gladio furrows his brow in confusion._ _

_ _Prompto, hand still moving across Noctis’s back, suddenly drops his smile and tilts his head to look at his best friend._ _

_ _And just like that, the moment is over._ _

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I want to thank the lovely people in this fandom for talking about this game and these characters and sharing your creative work and your smart insights and your hilarious jokes. Special thanks goes to: [Shadi](https://twitter.com/JunkyardSHADi) for helping me develop the idea for this one (and for all her gorgeous beardy Noct art that inspires me to write more); [@moonwaif](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonwaif/pseuds/moonwaif) for editing and feedback; and [@chofi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chofi/pseuds/chofi) for the excellent title to Gladio's romance novel.


End file.
